On Saturday evening the Grand Final took place at the Botany Downs Paradice Ice Rink between the local Botany Swarm team and the West Auckland Admirals. The across town rivalry has been immense and the round robin games produced some outstanding games.
With the Admirals winning their last 6 games there was an expectation that possibly this time they could do it. In front of a capacity crowd , the largest ever for an ice hockey game in Auckland and having to turn away a lot more people at the doors, the battle was on.
In period 1 it was obvious that the players had to settle their nerves in front of the very loud and rowdy crowd. This period did not produce a goal despite 12 shots on goal each for both teams.
The scoring was opened in period 2, just after � minute. The Swarm took advantage of a power play and Ian Wannamaker scored with an assist to Corey Down. The puck did not find its way into the net again despite the Admirals having a lot of opportunities. Shots on for Admirals 13, Swarm 7.
Period 3 was clearly dominated by the Swarm. The Admirals drew a lot of penalties and eventually this had to back fire on them. Corey Down, with a shot from the Blue Line catapulted the puck past the Admirals goalie putting the Swarm into a 2:1 lead. This goal was assisted by Jordan Challis and Ian Wannamaker again. In the last minute the Admirals threw everyone into attack and despite a penalty for a Swarm player, the Admirals pulling their goalie and replacing him with an attacker they were unable to score. With 1 second to go Ian Wannamaker secured the puck to push it into an empty goal ensuring the 3rd NZIHL Champions title for the Botany Swarm again with a 3:1 win.
Total shots on goal, Admirals 33, Swarm 42. Penalty minutes Admirals 67, Swarm 18.
MVP (Most Valuable Player) for the Finals Ian Wannamaker.